The present invention relates generally to software-defined networking (SDN), and more specifically, to SDN tunneling extensions.
Ethernet networks are typically employed in local area networks (LANs) that include a plurality of network switches. A number of communication protocols have been developed and continue to evolve to enhance Ethernet network performance for various environments. For example, an enhancement to Ethernet, called data center bridging (DCB), converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or data center Ethernet (DCE), supports the convergence of LANs with storage area networks (SANs). Other protocols that can be used in a data center environment in conjunction with Ethernet include, for instance, fibre channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet wide area remote direct memory access protocol (iWARP), remote direct memory access over converged Ethernet (RoCE).
In traditional network architectures there is no centralized network control. Routing tables located locally in network devices, such as switches, bridges, gateways, routers, or firewalls, are individually configured to direct network traffic to neighboring nodes of the network. The network devices may make control decisions and forward network traffic accordingly. In software-defined networking (SDN), network traffic routing decisions are centrally controlled and made by a controller that creates tables to define flow paths through the network. The controller decouples control decisions about where traffic is sent from network devices that forward traffic to a selected destination.